This invention concerns an electronic device cabinet having a main body and a cover that is rotatably attached to the cabinet main body, and in particular, an engagement member having a simplified construction for engaging said cover and for controlling the open and closed state of said cover.
Heretofore known as cabinets for entertainment devices that employ optical disks, such as CD players, DVD players and the like, are cabinets that have a cover whose end is attached rotatably to a cabinet main body and in which the cover is opened and closed using elastic force. Such a cabinet is usually constructed in such a way that the cover is attached rotatably to the inner side of the cabinet main body by a hinge or other mechanism, a spring or other impelling means is provided inside the cabinet main body, and the cover is opened by releasing the elastic force of the spring. Provided on the cabinet main body in a location away from the attachment of the cover is usually an engaging member that advances and retracts with respect to the cover, and the cover can be closed by engaging the end of the cover with this engaging member. This engaging member usually has a sloping surface that comes into contact with a button or other pressing member, and when the operator presses the button, the pressing force acts via the sloping surface as a force in the advance-and-retract direction of the engaging member, and it moves away from the cover end. When the operator releases his hand from the button, it is necessary to restore the engaging member to its original position and engage the cover with the engaging member, so a spring or other impelling means is provided on the advance-and-retract direction base end part of the engaging member.
However, in such a conventional electronic device cabinet the engagement structure of the cover consists of a button, engaging member, and impelling means, with a large number of parts, which creates the problem that much work is required during assembly, and it is difficult to assemble the electronic device efficiently. Thus, during assembly a spring or other impelling means must be mounted on the base end part of the engaging member in a bent state, which complicates the assembly operation.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an electronic device cabinet and an electronic device having a reduced assembly operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic device cabinet and an electronic device having an engagement member for engaging the cover of the cabinet and for controlling the open and closed state of the cover.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic device cabinet and an electronic device having an engagement member with an impelling means that is formed integrally with the engagement member.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic device cabinet and an electronic device having an engagement member with an impelling means that can be withdrawn from and inserted into the electronic device cabinet in a simple operation.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become clear upon review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings.
An electronic device cabinet having a cabinet main body and a cover whose end is attached rotatably to the cabinet main body, is provided with an engaging member that advances and retracts with respect to the end of said cover and holds said cover in closed state by engaging said end of said cover. The engaging member has an engaging part main body that engages the end of said cover and an impelling means that impels this main body in the advance-and-retract direction, both the engaging part main body and the impelling means being formed integrally. Because of such integrated construction, the engaging part main body and the impelling means can be attached just by fitting the engaging member onto the cabinet main body, which greatly simplifies the assembly operation. Such cabinet can be used is an entertainment device such as a CD or DVD player or a game device, and using the construction of the present invention on these electronic devices can simplify the structure of the cabinet, which is desirable in making electronic devices smaller and lighter, and in reducing their cost. It is desirable that the impelling means have a symmetric construction for attributing a uniform force on said engagement member, and be formed in the shape of a ring. It is also desirable that a guide is provided on said cabinet main body for regulating the movement of the engaging part main body. It is also desirable to constitute said engaging member as an integral molding of injection-molded polyacetal, because polyacetal is a good sliding material and has good fatigue resistance.
It is also desirable that there be formed in said cabinet main body an opening into which the cover is press-fitted, and that there be provided on the circumferential edge of this opening a depression outside of which the circumferential edge of said cover is exposed in the state in which the cover is press-fitted into said opening.
It is also desirable that said cabinet main body have a pair of accommodation members or cabinet halves that, by engaging with each other, accommodate inside them a device main body that has electronic components, etc., that there be formed in the cabinet main body an opening part that exposes connection terminals for external device connection that are provided on said device main body, and that this opening part straddle the boundary part of the pair of accommodation members.
Here, the connection terminals for external device connection might include, but are not limited to, for example, controller connectors (terminals) to which controllers are connected and audio and video output terminals for outputting signals from the device main body to a television receiver, as well as power supply terminals, etc. for supplying electric power to the device main body from an external power source.
Also, the opening part that straddles the boundary part (engagement line) of the pair of accommodation members might include but not be limited to, for example, an opening part that consists of openings formed in each of the pair of accommodation members facing the boundary part, as well as an opening part, etc. that consists of an opening formed in one or the other of the pair of accommodation members facing the boundary part.
Thus, the pair of accommodation members that constitute the cabinet main body is normally formed by injection molding using a metal mold that has an upper mold (cavity) and a lower mold (core). In doing so, if for example one is to form in the accommodation members an opening part that exposes connection terminals provided on the device main body, the accommodation members are formed by (1) engaging the upper and lower molds and inserting into the metal mold a slide core that moves horizontally, (2) injecting resin into the metal mold, (3) moving the slide core and removing it from inside the metal mold, and (4) raising the upper mold and separating the molding from the mold. But this requires additional steps for moving the slide core, which creates the problem of detracting from the productivity of the accommodation members.
Thus if an opening part is formed that straddles the boundary part of the pair of accommodation members instead of forming an opening part inside the accommodation members, then it suffices to form in each accommodation member an opening facing the boundary part, which makes a slide core unnecessary, reduces the number of manufacturing steps, and thereby improves the productivity of the accommodation members.